Coloring With Crayons
by keeptheotherone
Summary: Rose didn't know she wasn't supposed to color on the desk. Honest, she didn't know! Second Place in the Childhood Memory Competition by selenehekate.


Ron and Hermione Weasley sat across the desk from Rose's year one teacher.

"What really concerns me," Mrs. Walker said, "is that Rose doesn't seem to understand what she did wrong. Coloring on desks is vandalism of school property, but she thought I kept her in from recess because I didn't like her picture. She offered to draw another one on my desk."

Ron gave a snort of laughter. Hermione stepped on his foot.

Mrs. Walker frowned, making Ron feel he was back in year one. That is, if he'd ever gone to Muggle school, which he hadn't. Because he was a wizard.

And his daughter was a witch.

"When I gave her soap and water to scrub it off, she asked why I couldn't make it disappear, like her mum. She said you had a magic fix."

Hermione stepped on Ron's foot before he had a chance to laugh this time.

"If you have something that removes crayon, Mrs. Weasley, please tell me. I'd buy a case of it."

"They don't make it anymore," Hermione said. "We'll talk with Rose and make sure she understands the importance of respecting school property and that she is to color only on paper." She reached for her purse. "We would be happy to compensate the school . . . . "

"No, no, that's not necessary. Between Rose and me, we got it out. Her desk looks better than most of the other children's now."

Hermione smiled and stood, extending her hand. "We're very sorry, Mrs. Walker. Thank you for your time."

Ron shook hands too, and they left the classroom.

"Just say it," Hermione said as Ron opened the door for her and they exited into the late autumn sunshine.

He remained silent.

"You're not going to be able to talk to me until you say it, so just go ahead."

"I told you! I told you it was a mistake to put Rose in a Muggle school, that she's too young and she would end up violating the Statute of Secrecy."

Hermione walked faster. "She didn't do magic, Ron, she was coloring with crayons."

"No, she just accused you of doing it."

"Mrs. Walker has no idea. It's a common Muggle expression."

"Well, she's right about Rose not understanding it was wrong. Allowing her to draw all over the house because you wanted to 'encourage her creativity' and 'promote her self-esteem.' How do you think she feels about herself now, Hermione?"

They had reached the alley and Hermione stepped behind a skip. "I'm going to pick up the kids."

Ron Apparated into the Grangers' garage as Hermione knocked on the interior door.

"You didn't answer my question."

"I don't want to fight in front of my parents, or Rose and Hugo. Let's just go home, all right?"

()()()()

Rose sat at the kitchen table copying her spelling words.

"Rose, Mummy and Daddy need to talk to you about what happened at school yesterday."

Both her parents were sitting down across from her, and Mummy looked very serious. She set down her pencil.

"Mrs. Walker didn't like my picture," she said, voice trembling. "I offered to draw a new one on her desk, anything she wanted, but she said coloring on desks wasn't allowed and to clean up my mess. I didn't know I wasn't supposed to color on it, Mummy. It was white and blank and boring, and I wanted something pretty to look at."

"I know you didn't know, Rose, and that's my fault," Mummy said. "I've let you draw on anything you wanted because it's easy for me to clean it, but you can't do that at school. In fact, Daddy and I have decided we're going to make the same rule at home, too. We love your drawings, but from now on you can color on paper only."

"Is Mrs. Walker still mad at me?"

Mummy smiled. "No, sweetheart, not at all. I'm sure she would like to see another drawing if it was on paper this time."

Rose thought about that. Maybe she'd make her a 'pology picture, with rainbows and flowers. She drew very good flowers; after all, her name was Rose!

"There's something else, Rose. It's not just that you can't color on your desk; that desk belongs to the school, and after you finish year one there will be another boy or girl who sits at that desk, and another one after that, and another one after that. Every student needs to take good care of the desks and property at the school so they're still in good shape for someone else to use. Do you understand?"

"Is that why Mrs. Walker said I was vandle—vandling school property? She thought my desk wouldn't be good enough for the next student?"

"Vandalizing. It means damaging or destroying something. I'm sure your picture was lovely, but the next student deserves to have a clean desk to start with, just like you did."

"I understand, Mummy. I won't vandalize anything else, and I'll only color on paper."

Mummy and Daddy beamed at her.

"Need help with those spelling words, Rosie?" Daddy asked.

She didn't, but Daddy liked to help, and she liked Daddy. She pushed her book across the table and turned her paper over. "You read out the word and I'll spell it to you."

()()()()

Rose cuddled Norbert a little tighter; Mummy and Daddy were fighting. She couldn't hear them anymore because their room was charmed silent, but she had heard them hissing at each other as they came up the stairs. What if they were arguing about her?

She eyed the bottom drawer of her desk for a moment, then threw the covers back, crossed her room, and opened it. She pulled out the pink and purple box, then wiggled her hand behind her bookcase, removed the key, and unlocked it. Rose dug through the photos and trinkets and pulled out a long, flesh-colored string.

She opened her bedroom door, tiptoed across the hall, and dropped one end in front of Mummy and Daddy's door. The Extendable Ear wriggled itself underneath, exactly like Uncle George said. She tiptoed back to her room and closed the door again, just in case.

" . . . had no idea why she was in trouble!"

They were fighting about her.

"I apologized for that, Ron, what else do you want me to do? It was an innocent mistake!"

"It was not innocent, I told you she wouldn't fit in there."

"Oh, you think only magic children vandalize school property? Come on, Ron!"

"It's because of magic that she didn't understand, because you've used magic to clear up every mess she's ever made!"

"Of course I clear up with magic, I'm a _witch_!"

"So is Rose! She's only six, Hermione, it's only a matter of time until she does magic at school, and then what are we going to do? Obliviate everyone who comes into contact with her?"

Mummy and Daddy argued a lot, but most of the time it was like they were playing with each other. Like when James and Al were wrestling and ended up laughing. Rose hefted Norbert under her arm. This wasn't funny.

"She's smart, Ron, she knows she's not allowed to do or say anything about magic—"

"I would have thought she was smart enough not to color on a desk!"

Rose's eyes filled with tears. That was Daddy's roaring voice, like when he played the Big Bad Wolf.

"Don't you dare insult our daughter!"

"She's just like you!" That wasn't an insult, Mummy was wonderful. "Too smart for her own good. You may not remember your first months at Hogwarts, but I do. I do _not_ want Rose to grow up like that, wondering what's wrong with her, and why she's different, and why nobody likes her."

She started to cry in earnest. Daddy thought there was something wrong with her?

"But she knows she's magical, Ron. She's not going to wonder about those things because she lives in the wizarding world. But I want her to know her Muggle heritage, too—"

"Not like this. Not when there's this much at stake, and I'm not talking about the bloody statute. I want to pull her out of school. Now. Tomorrow. We'll go to Mrs. Walker and tell her Rose isn't coming back."

Rose flung open her door, ran across the hall, and burst into her parents' room.

"Don't send me to Azkaban!" She launched herself at her father's legs and held on with all her strength. "They were just crayons, Daddy, I promise! Not even Uncle George's Permanent Paint ones, just plain Muggle crayons. I won't do magic ever again, I promise I won't, please don't send me to Azkaban!"

()()()()

Hermione stared at her hysterical daughter in utter bewilderment, then knelt beside her.

"Sweetheart, nobody's sending you to Azkaban. Why would you think that?"

"Daddy said you're going to take me out of school. I didn't know I wasn't supposed to color on the desk, I didn't know!" Rose's voice was rising to a glass-shattering pitch.

"Rose, listen to me." Hermione used her best "I mean business" voice. "Nobody is going to Azkaban. Now let go of your father so we can talk about this."

Rose shook her head, still sobbing.

Hermione looked to Ron for help.

He crossed his arms and stared back at her, and she felt a twinge of fear. She hadn't seen that cold expression on Ron's face since the locket.

"I can't let go of her. She's stuck."

Hermione grasped Rose's waist and pulled, and Ron nearly toppled on top of her. Accidental magic. Rose had performed a Sticking Charm even as she swore to never do magic again. Unbidden, she thought of Ariana Dumbledore. She didn't want Rose in a situation where something similar could happen, but she had put her own desires above her daughter's needs. Swiping away tears, Hermione retrieved her wand from the bedside table and reversed the spell. Ron picked Rose up and sat on the bed, cuddling her to his chest.

"It's all right, Rosie. Daddy's got you, you're safe, no one is taking you anywhere. I've got you, Rosie."

Gradually Rose's sobs slowed, and the story came out. How she heard them hissing in the hallway, how she listened in with an Extendable Ear she picked out in the shop last month ("I'm going to _kill_ George!" Ron muttered), how Louis and Fred had warned her that doing magic in front of Muggles would get her sent to Azkaban.

"Azkaban is for very bad wizards and witches, Rosie, not kids who make mistakes. Uncle Harry did magic in front of Muggles once."

"He did?" Rose looked up at her father with wide, wet eyes, and despite her shame, Hermione felt a surge of pride. Ron was a wonderful father.

"Uh-huh. He had to go to a hearing at the Ministry, but they never considered sending him to Azkaban."

She settled more comfortably on Ron's lap. "Daddy?"

"Hmm?"

"What's wrong with me?"

"There's nothing wrong with you, Rosie."

But Hermione knew what Rose was talking about; she had overheard what Ron said about her.

"You said you didn't want me to wonder what was wrong with me, and why I was different, and why nobody liked me. But Sophie and Madison like me. We play together all the time. And if there is something wrong with me, I want to know what it is."

Ron's expression darkened, and Hermione felt a flash of pity for George. Ron shifted Rose so she was facing him.

"Listen to me carefully, Rose Minerva Weasley. There is not one thing wrong with you, and there's never been even one fraction of a second that I thought there was. You are beautiful, smart, and kind, and of course people like you. You're my daughter." He pulled a face and Rose laughed, then snuggled into his chest again.

"I don't want to leave school."

Hermione searched Ron's face. "What would you think about going to school at Aunt Audrey's house instead?"

Rose sat up. "With all the cousins?"

Hermione nodded.

"Mummy, I would like that very much."

()()()()

Ron shook his head. "Merlin, that was a mess."

He, Hermione, Rose, and Hugo were gathered in the sitting room with mugs of hot chocolate. Tomorrow was September first, the first day of Rose's seventh year, and Hermione had been reminiscing all day.

Hugo was laughing. "Rose's a vandal! Wait till I tell James and Al."

"Vandalism involves the deliberate mischievous or malicious destruction or damage of property. It wasn't malicious; I colored on desks and tables at home all the time, I had no idea it wasn't allowed at school."

Hermione sighed. "I never thought about that when I let you color everywhere, Rose. The parenting books said it was important to let toddlers explore and experiment to build a sense of accomplishment and self-esteem. You loved to draw and paint, and I didn't want to stifle that creativity by setting up rules around it."

"I know, Mum. I still love to draw; I doodle on my notes all the time. It drives Scorpius crazy."

"Then keep doing it. Anything that annoys Malfoy has my full support."

"Daddy . . . ."

"They didn't even punish you. That is so not fair! Why does Rose get away with everything?"

"Your sister does not get away with everything, and she wasn't punished because—"

"Because children need positive social reinforcement to learn adaptive behaviors that result in appropriate emotional development," Ron mocked.

Hermione laughed along with her children. "It's funny now, but we weren't laughing that night. I still don't understand why you thought we were sending you to Azkaban."

"Fred and Louis said doing magic at a Muggle school was a violation of the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery and the International Statute of Secrecy, and I would be sent to Azkaban."

"But you didn't do magic, Rosie."

"You kept talking about me violating the statute, and I thought you didn't believe me."

"You were crying so hard; Ron looked like he wanted to send me to Azkaban."

Ron hugged Hermione. "Of course I didn't. I might have fed you a Puking Pastille, though." He started laughing. "I did put Itching Powder in George's dinner that weekend, remember? He drank about a gallon of water, but the itching was on the inside and he had to go to St. Mungo's."

Everyone was laughing now. "I do remember that, but I didn't know it was you," Rose said, wiping her eyes. "That must have been why he bought me a giant roll of easel paper, as an apology for the Ear. It took me years to use all of it."

"Did we do the right thing, Rose?"

"What do you mean?"

"Letting Audrey homeschool you. You were so disappointed when you realized you couldn't see your Muggle friends anymore."

Rose shrugged. "It would have happened eventually, Mum. Better after a few weeks instead of several years. Besides, we've done loads of Muggle things, museums and movies and the Underground. Did you stay in touch with your friends from Muggle school?"

Hermione smiled, but there was a sadness to it. "I didn't have any friends from Muggle school. That's what convinced me Ron was right, in the end."

"Finally, she admits it! Let the record show—"

"Hush, Ron. He reminded me about my first months at Hogwarts, before I became friends with your dad and Uncle Harry. I didn't want you to have the same social awkwardness that I did. You were already more outgoing and likeable than I was as a child, but eventually your magic would have come out, and I didn't want the other kids to make fun of you like they did me. Or hurt you because of it."

"Did someone try to hurt you, Mum?" Hugo asked.

Hermione and Ron exchanged glances.

"Not her," Ron said. "But it happened to someone we knew; his little sister. Some Muggle boys saw her doing magic and wanted her to show them the trick. When she couldn't repeat it, they attacked her. She became afraid of magic, refusing to use it, and repressing the power drove her insane."

Rose gasped. "That's horrible!"

"How did you get Rose out of Muggle school? Didn't they keep a list of students?"

Ron grinned. "That was great, hearing McGonagall yell at your mum for a change."

Hermione shot him a dirty look. "It was not great, it was a disaster. Professor McGonagall didn't forgive me for ages."

"What happened?" Rose said.

"I wasn't supposed to enroll you in Muggle school; technically, as a magical-born witch, doing so was a violation of the Statute of Secrecy. Ron was against it, but I thought it would be a good experience for you. So I—well, I—"

"She played the war heroine card."

"What?" Rose and Hugo exclaimed. In her whole life, Rose had only seen her mum use her influence to manipulate the system once, and that had been because her dad was in hospital.

"I said I fought a war to protect the rights of Muggles and Muggle-borns, and I was raising my children with an understanding and appreciation of Muggle society. But when we decided to pull you out, we had to erase you from the Muggle system completely; school records, birth certificate, national identity card, everything, just like Muggle-born witches and wizards who attend Hogwarts. So I went to Professor McGonagall for help, because that was her job for years as Deputy Headmistress, and—"

"She yelled at you," Ron said with satisfaction, causing Rose and Hugo to laugh.

"Yes, she did. She said the magical community had gone to a great deal of effort to ensure Rose could attend Muggle school for her entire primary education, not a mere three weeks, and despite my vast intelligence I clearly needed to learn from the experience of my elders. It even made the _Prophet._"

"Me quitting Muggle school made the _Prophet_?"

"Oh, yes. It's not so bad now, but for several years after the war ended anything Harry, Ron, or I did was front-page news, and they loved anything about our kids. I wrote a letter to the editor to apologize."

"I think that's when I started to understand what it means to be a witch," Rose said. "When Mrs. Walker couldn't clean my desk, and you were so worried about me violating the Statute of Secrecy, I realized Muggles don't know about us, but we know about them. They can't come into our world, but we can go into theirs, and I realized how lucky I was to be on this side of that divide."

Hermione beamed at her daughter. "Look at you now. Seventeen years old, all grown up, prefect and Head Girl . . . ."

Hugo was making retching noises, and Rose swatted him.

"Oi! She just hit me! Did you see that?"

"She's Head Girl, mate."

"Why does Rose get away with everything?"

* * *

a/n: This was written for the Childhood Memory Competition hosted by selenehekate. I was given Rose Weasley, age 6, and the prompt _vandalism._ Special thanks to Hermione's Harmony for translating the American _first grade _to the British _year one_.

Rose's definition of _vandalism _is straight from dictionary .com. I chose to compare Ron's voice to the Big Bad Wolf from "The Three Little Pigs" because I think Hermione would have exposed her kids to both wizarding _and_ Muggle books; lots and lots of them :D Also, I really struggled with point of view in this piece (despite the input of my fabulous beta, vancabreuniter!), so please review and let me know what you think!


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